Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

⁸ Then a new king came to power in Egypt. Joseph didn’t mean anything to him. ⁹ “Look,” he said to his people. “The Israelites are far too many for us. ¹⁰ Come. We must deal with them carefully. If we don’t, there will be even more of them. Then if war breaks out, they’ll join our enemies. They’ll fight against us and leave the country.”

¹¹ So the Egyptians put slave drivers over the people of Israel. The slave drivers treated them badly and made them work hard. The Israelites built the cities of Pithom and Rameses so Pharaoh could store things there. ¹² But the worse the slave drivers treated the Israelites, the more Israelites there were. So the Egyptians became afraid of them. ¹³ They made them work hard. They didn’t show them any pity. ¹⁴ The people suffered because of their hard labor. The slave drivers forced them to work with bricks and mud. And they made them do all kinds of work in the fields. The Egyptians didn’t show them any pity at all. They made them work very hard.

¹⁵ There were two Hebrew women named Shiphrah and Puah. They helped other women having babies. The king of Egypt spoke to them. He said, ¹⁶ “You are the ones who help the other Hebrew women. Watch them when they get into a sitting position to have their babies. Kill the boys. Let the girls live.” ¹⁷ But Shiphrah and Puah had respect for God. They didn’t do what the king of Egypt had told them to do. They let the boys live. ¹⁸ Then the king of Egypt sent for the women. He asked them, “Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?”

¹⁹ The women answered Pharaoh, “Hebrew women are not like the women of Egypt. They are strong. They have their babies before we get there.”

²⁰ So God was kind to Shiphrah and Puah. And the number of Israelites became even greater. ²¹ Shiphrah and Puah had respect for God. So he gave them families of their own.

²² Then Pharaoh gave an order to all his people. He said, “You must throw every Hebrew baby boy into the Nile River. But let every Hebrew baby girl live.”

Moses Is Born

2 A man and a woman from the tribe of Levi got married. ² She became pregnant and had a son by her husband. She saw that her baby was a fine child. And she hid him for three months. ³ After that, she couldn’t hide him any longer. So she got a basket made out of the stems of tall grass. She coated the basket with tar. She placed the child in the basket. Then she put it in the tall grass that grew along the bank of the Nile River. ⁴ The child’s sister wasn’t very far away. She wanted to see what would happen to him.

⁵ Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile River to take a bath. Her attendants were walking along the river bank. She saw the basket in the tall grass. So she sent her female slave to get it. ⁶ When she opened it, Pharaoh’s daughter saw the baby. He was crying. She felt sorry for him. “This is one of the Hebrew babies,” she said.

⁷ Then his sister spoke to Pharaoh’s daughter. She asked, “Do you want me to go and get one of the Hebrew women? She could breast-feed the baby for you.”

⁸ “Yes. Go,” she answered. So the girl went and got the baby’s mother. ⁹ Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this baby and feed him for me. I’ll pay you.” So the woman took the baby and fed him. ¹⁰ When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh’s daughter. And he became her son. She named him Moses. She said, “I pulled him out of the water.”

A song for those who go up to Jerusalem to worship the Lord. A psalm of David.

Living as a Holy Sacrifice to God

12 Brothers and sisters, God has shown you his mercy. So I am asking you to offer up your bodies to him while you are still alive. Your bodies are a holy sacrifice that is pleasing to God. When you offer your bodies to God, you are worshiping him in the right way. ² Don’t live the way this world lives. Let your way of thinking be completely changed. Then you will be able to test what God wants for you. And you will agree that what he wants is right. His plan is good and pleasing and perfect.

Serving One Another in the Body of Christ

³ God’s grace has been given to me. So here is what I say to every one of you. Don’t think of yourself more highly than you should. Be reasonable when you think about yourself. Keep in mind the faith God has given to each of you. ⁴ Each of us has one body with many parts. And the parts do not all have the same purpose. ⁵ So also we are many persons. But in Christ we are one body. And each part of the body belongs to all the other parts. ⁶ We all have gifts. They differ according to the grace God has given to each of us. Do you have the gift of prophecy? Then use it according to the faith you have. ⁷ If your gift is serving, then serve. If it is teaching, then teach. ⁸ Is it encouraging others? Then encourage them. Is it giving to others? Then give freely. Is it being a leader? Then work hard at it. Is it showing mercy? Then do it cheerfully.

Peter Says That Jesus Is the Messiah

¹³ Jesus went to the area of Caesarea Philippi. There he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”

¹⁴ They replied, “Some say John the Baptist. Others say Elijah. Still others say Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.”

¹⁵ “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

¹⁶ Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah. You are the Son of the living God.”

¹⁷ Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah! No mere human showed this to you. My Father in heaven showed it to you. ¹⁸ Here is what I tell you. You are Peter. On this rock I will build my church. The gates of hell will not be strong enough to destroy it. ¹⁹ I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. What you lock on earth will be locked in heaven. What you unlock on earth will be unlocked in heaven.” ²⁰ Then Jesus ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.